French Company MBDA continues to market its new MMP Medium Range Missile for the international military market. During DIMDEX 2018, the International Maritime Defense Exhibition & Conference in Qatar, MBDA has presented a new light turret armed with one 12.7mm heavy machine gun and four anti-tank launchers unit for MMP missile, two on each side of the turret.
MBDA turret with 12.7mm heavy machine gun and MMP Medium Range anti-tank guided missile at DIMDEX, the International Maritime Defense Exhibition & Conference in Qatar, March 2018. (Picture source Army Recognition)
According to Army Recognition editorial team at DIMDEX 2018, Qatar could be interested to purchase the MMP MBDA ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missile) to be mounted for a future new wheeled armoured vehicle. Currently, Qatar is on the process to procure 490 VBCI 8x8 armoured vehicles VBCI manufactured by the French Company Nexter.
The French Company MBDA also has other international projects for its MMP, been proposed for Land 400 program of Australian Army, where it is competing with Israeli-made Rafael’s Spike ATGM.
The MBDA’s Missile Moyenne Portee (MMP, for “medium range missile”) was designed to offer a new generation of anti-armor missile for the French army which can be used as individual weapon by infantrymen and mounted on combat vehicles. French army plans are to acquire 400 firing posts and 1,750 missiles for infantry, armoured units and Special Forces of all branches by 2025, with options for further orders totaling 2,850 missiles.
In June 2016, French Company MBDA has announced the launch of series production of the MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée – medium-range missile) system. Since the program was launched in 2011, some 20 test firings and numerous ground tests have served to validate all the performance values required by the French armed forces, such as system resistance and employability in extreme environment and temperature conditions, shooting under infra-red guidance at a long-range target (4,100 meters), firing in confined spaces, or warhead versatility, to ensure effectiveness against varied targets such as combat vehicles, dismounted combatants in open spaces, or entrenched in infrastructure.
The MMP is a fifth generation land combat missile system which can be used in fire-and-forget mode, which does not require further guidance after launch such as illumination of the target or wire guidance, and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the target.
The MMP missile can hit targets to a maximum firing range of 4,000m, allowing the operator to defeat the target beyond counter fire ranges. A dual mode seeker; uncooled infrared and visible color channels allows a broad range of targets to be engaged including those with low thermal contrast, a fiber-optic data link making it possible to maintain “man-in-the-loop” control to allow third party designated targets to be engaged outside the launch platforms line of site. The missile’s multi-purpose lethal package (anti-tank, anti-personnel and anti-structure) can defeat targets ranging from heavy tanks with reactive armour to infantry entrenched within structure.
